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May 28, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels February 14, 2004 Gym owner fled to Oregon coast By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings During the middle of the night earlier this week, Jake Grabow locked his business, posted a sign on the door and fled for the Oregon Coast. On Friday, Grabow said he had no other choice. Grabow is the owner of Ashland Health and Fitness, formerly Gold's Gym of Ashland, located in the Ashland Shopping Center. He closed the gym late Tuesday evening. During the night, he took down the front sign and had several pieces of equipment removed. Moving crews packed up the remaining equipment on Wednesday and Thursday. In a phone call from an undisclosed location, Grabow said he simply couldn't cope with closing the gym any other way. "Eighteen months of this is pretty emotionally distressing," he said. "And to stand there (at the gym) for several more days as people rip you, and second guess you � I quite honestly don't have the emotional (reserves) for it." Sudden closure Members and employees were shocked to learn the gym had closed when they arrived on Wednesday. Approximately 480 gym members have already paid membership dues, payments that aren't going to be reimbursed. Some members claim they even paid their fees shortly before the gym closed. Grabow said that if members would get refunds, it wouldn't be from him. He owes a substantial amount of money to the Internal Revenue Service and has been threatened by the IRS with federal prison. "What can I do?" he said. "I couldn't even write a check. I've got no money. I don't know where the money would come from � at this point, I just have to deal with what happens to me." Bad debt Dave Rydbom manages the Ashland Shopping Center for his father Mike, the owner. He said Grabow left without paying this month's rent and other fees, mainly money for improvements to the gym facility. He estimated Grabow owes them more than $10,000. Rydbom was upset by the fact Grabow was still accepting membership fees on Tuesday, knowing full well he was closing at the end of the business day. "That's a red flag for me," he said. Rydbom said Grabow, who owned the gym for six years, had previously been a good tenant. "We never had an indication he would flat-out leave," Rydbom said. "This is not the standard way people go about leaving." Notice that the business was failing would have helped the shopping center find another tenant. "This could have been so much easier if he told everyone what was going on," Rydbom said. About four months ago, Grabow started to work days at the body shop of a local auto dealer to earn extra money, while continuing to run the gym in the evenings. "I believed wholeheartedly the outcome would change," he said. " I thought people would come back in December and January, and they didn't." Grabow said he lost almost everything when the business folded, including his marriage. He plans to return to Ashland at the end of the month to take care of "unfinished business." Ashland Police said they are waiting to see if any fraud complaints are filed before taking any action. For now, the matter is a civil dispute. Police plan to be available at the gym on today for members to retrieve personal items or file a complaint. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams